Meet Our Instructors

Sue Gillespie Booton, BROADWAY at The Rose Director
Sue has been The Rose’s Resident Choreographer for 12
years, creating choreography for How I Became a Pirate, Disney’s High SchoolMusical, Disney’s High School Musical 2, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Pinkalicious-The Musical, and Peter Pan-The Musical, just to name a few. Her latest Rose stage credits include Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, How I Became a Pirate, and Pinkalicious-The Musical. She was recently awarded the “Best Director” award at the regional Access Broadway convention as well as nominated for the jazz piece “Queen Medley.” Additionally, she was nominated for Omaha Entertainment Awards “Best Choreography” for both Disney’s High School Musical and Disney’s High School Musical 2 and was awarded “Best Choreography” for her pieces “Crawl,” “Sucked Under,” and “Wipeout” from regional conventions Showbiz, Access Broadway, and Dance Olympus. Sue can be reached at sueb@rosetheater.org or (402) 502-4633.

Kevin Ehrhart, Rose Artist/Educator
Kevin has been a Rose Artist Educator for 22 years. He studied dramatic arts at UNO and is a Master Teacher with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artist-in-Schools program. He teaches improvisation, directing, Shakespeare and all forms of creative drama. As a director, Kevin has been responsible for numerous main stage productions including Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; and Old Yeller. He was recently seen on stage in Seussical the Musical and How I Became a Pirate.

Claire Goodwillie, Dance Instructor
Claire is a Ballet Nebraska company member and a former apprentice with Omaha Theater Ballet. She has studied with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Banff Center for the Arts, and Ballet Austin. She has also performed with Opera Omaha and Omaha Symphony.

Natasha Grimm, Dance Instructor
Natasha is a Ballet Nebraska company member and a former member of Omaha Theater
Ballet. Her favorite roles include The Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Princess Vasilisa in Firebird, and The Snake in The Rose’s The Rainforest.

Nikki McMullen, Dance Instructor
Nikki recently won “Best Choreography” from Access Broadway for her piece “Into the Void,” collaborated with Aaron Ellis. She has also won “Best Choreography” for her pieces “Breathe Me” and “Raw Harmony.” Nikki is a registered dietitian and offers expertise in diet to the students and performers.

Ashley Reabe, Dance Instructor
Ashley originally started dance in Jacksonville, Florida where she attended Lavilla Middle school of the Arts as well as Douglas Anderson school of the Arts where she majored in Dance. Additionally, she also attended many master classes throughout her training to keep up with the always changing styles of dance. She holds a degree in elementary education from the University of NE at Omaha, where she was a member of the UNO Dance Team. While at UNO, the dance team competed nationally and placed in the top four each year. Ashley worked for the Omaha Nighthawks as a professional cheerleader/dance team 2013.14.

Ashley Durst, Dance Instructor
Ashley Durst, born and raised in Lincoln, NE grew up dancing in the Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company’s Nutcracker performing lead roles such as Snow Queen, Spain and Clara. She received her Bachelors and Masters degree in Dance Performance and Teaching from Oklahoma City University. She has performed on television, theme parks, cruise ships, and as a Scarlett for the University of Nebraska Lincoln Dance Team. Ashley has choreographed for several dance studios throughout Nebraska and Oklahoma, as well as judging and teaching for the Dance Masters of America Dance Convention.

Katlin Leanard, Dance Instructor
Katlin was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She began dancing at the age of three at Brownstone Dance Studio. When she was five she began competitively dancing and continued until she was a senior in high school, dancing for Nebraska Dance. While she was in high school, she was on the dance team for four years and was captain from her sophomore year until she graduated. In college, she danced for the Cornhuskers as a Scarlet. She was on the team for four years and was a captain her junior and senior year. Katlin now performs as a Prime Dancer for the Omaha Beef. She has choreographed numerous musicals, competition routines, and various high school dance teams throughout Omaha and Lincoln. She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Broadcast Production. She is looking forward to having her own dance class for the very first time and helping other dancers achieve their dreams.